Iranian Kurdistan Under the Islamic Republic: Change, Revolution, and Resistance

by Marouf Cabi

Overview

This book presents a social, political, cultural, and socioeconomic history of Iranian Kurdistan since the 1979 Revolution.

In this study, Marouf Cabi shines a spotlight on the modern history of Iranian Kurdistan – an area of Greater Kurdistan understudied in comparison to its regions in Syria and Iraq. The book provides a historical narrative and analysis of Kurdistan since the Revolution. It addresses key changes and events in detail, such as the participation of the Kurds in the Revolution, the reinvigoration of the Kurdish movements and the emergence of the women's movement, the armed struggle of the 1980s, socioeconomic and political change of the 1990s, and the emergence of civil society since 2000. Cabi draws on extensive primary sources, including oral history, various newspapers, journals, and books published during the period.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780755654369
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	06/25/2026
Series:	Kurdish Studies
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Marouf Cabi received his PhD in History from the University of St Andrews, UK, and is a social and cultural historian of modern Iran. He has published in academic journals, including articles for Middle East Studies, Middle East Critique, and Contemporary Review of the Middle East. He is author of The Formation of Modern Kurdish Society in Iran: Modernity, Modernization, and Social Change 1921-1979, (2022). He taught Middle Eastern history at the University of St Andrews for several years. Currently, he is a visiting fellow at Middle East Centre, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Table of Contents

List of Figures.
List of Map.
List of Tables.
Acknowledgement.
Translation and Transliteration.
Preface.

Introduction.
1 20th Century: Modernising Kurdistan.
2 Revolution and the Coming of The Islamic Republic.
3 Kurdistan Defying the New Regime.
4 1980-1990: A Decade of War and Armed Struggle.
5 The 1990s: A Decade of Ideological and Organisational Transformation.
6 21st Century: The Rise of Civil Society.
7 The Uprising of Woman, Life, Freedom.
Conclusion: Writing Kurdish History in Iran.

Appendix 1: 26-Article Plan for the Autonomy of Kurdistan.
Appendix 2: Ketab-e Jom'e warns 'black days ahead'.
Bibliography.
Index.

Editorial Reviews

This book provides a rich and accessible account of Kurdish politics and society in Iran over the last century or so. It carefully charts the course, dynamics, and consequences of the evolution of Kurdish national democratic movement in Iran. It benefits students, researchers and practitioners alike.” —Kamran Matin, Senior Lecturer of International Relations, University of Sussex, UK

“Iranian Kurdistan Under the Islamic Republic provides a compelling historical account of the political and intellectual movement, as well as modern Kurdish society in Iranian Kurdistan (Rojhelat/East Kurdistan), from the 1970s, onwards.” —Allan Hassaniyan, Lecturer in Middle East Studies, institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, UK

From the Publisher